New Pics: Jason Segel and the Muppets at the L.A. movie set

At one time i may have agreed but while Joan used to be comic gold throughout a lot of her career, she's really become embarrassingly unfunny as she's aged - to the level where you just are left watching her and left shaking your head.

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I'm kind of with you on that, however I keep hearing good things about Joan's recent documentary. How can I not love Kathy too?

Some folk are concerned about the growing number of cameos and wonder just how many Muppets they'll still be able to squeeze into this Muppet movie. That's mostly fanboy Chicken Little Syndrome IMHO. These cameos will be brief and breeze by before we know what happened. We know from Muppet writer Jim Lewis that scripts traditionally don't require cameos and they're largely last minute arrangements. If anyone claims the Muppets are too muggy or have somehow sold-out then remember this - - they've always been Hollywood and the Muppets originated in advertising! All is fine. Don't worry. Nobody's landed. I think it'll be a great time and the growing list of cameo support for the film also appears to support the film's premise of a large gathering to save the Muppet Studio!

Just my two cents. I'm ecstatic and it's great how they seem to have cameos of all different types.

I'm thinking that this list of cameos are mostly going to be a few seconds of the stars on the red carpet before the big show.
Someone interviewing them, where Joan Rivers would fit right in.
Kind of like at the beginning of Zoolander... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwazeNdKBiw skip to 3:40 for the beginning of the celebrity cameos.

Some folk are concerned about the growing number of cameos and wonder just how many Muppets they'll still be able to squeeze into this Muppet movie. That's mostly fanboy Chicken Little Syndrome IMHO. These cameos will be brief and breeze by before we know what happened. We know from Muppet writer Jim Lewis that scripts traditionally don't require cameos and they're largely last minute arrangements. If anyone claims the Muppets are too muggy or have somehow sold-out then remember this - - they've always been Hollywood and the Muppets originated in advertising! All is fine. Don't worry. Nobody's landed. I think it'll be a great time and the growing list of cameo support for the film also appears to support the film's premise of a large gathering to save the Muppet Studio!

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But let's not forget the "growing" list of cameos is actually SHRINKING! There have been numerous buzz worthy cameos that have pulled out at the last minute, or were never actually contacted. Some were rumors, some could have been considered but couldn't make it.

Charles Grodin we know is somewhere else filming something else too far away. I Dream of Jeanie's cameo was just debunked, and Lady Gaga (at this point) may or may not be in there. Plus, it's been confirmed that Michael Cera is not just going to not be Walter's voice, but he (and Paul Rudd) was never considered in the running. Seems for every cameo announcement, 2 people drop out (rumor or unavailability). So far, the only ones that look definite are Kathy, Billy, and Ricky only because we're seeing pictures of them shooting the film. Nothing is confirmed until the film's in theaters. And that's considering cameos aren't edited for time.

As far as cameos, in the first 3 movies they ranged from longer 2-3 (John Cleese) minute exchanges to running gags (Carol Kane). It may seem star studded now, but we don't know how big the studs are.

I agree. I mean, this bit with Kathy and Ricky looks like it may be at an award or red carpet situation so they could be one line, or even non...(Ricky? With nothing to say? As if that would EVER happen.) But I can totally see this being a bit, similar to Scooter's role in MTM as a cinema 'manager', but as a celebrity wrangler for events such as this.

What I'm looking forward to is the behind-the-scenes interviews with all the stars and the Muppets. Also, remember, all these cameo people and their friends will show up on opening night making this a bigger news story overall.

I have to admit I'm not too pleased with the Ricky Gervais cameo, and the photo of (and what I assume will be a scene with) him and my favourite muppet.... ugh, I don't obsessively hate him or anything but I would be lying if I said it doesn't bug me haha. I apologize to people who like him but I just never have been able to stand him. I just hope it's one scene and that's it lol.

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Of course that's the thing with cameos or any kind of guest - by using them, you may get their fanbase brought to the audience that may not have otherwise watched but every celeb also has people that don't like them to. Of course a lot of times when people don't like someone they may be judging them based on one role or their usual image/typecast. Of course a cameo can afford a celeb a chance to do something different without the type of time commitment like a lead role that would take them away from their other commitments. At least if someone you don't care for does something with The Muppets it still doesn't mean you'll end up enjoying the final product less. Debbie Harry is one of my favorite musicians/people but the overall episode of TMS that she guested in is one of my least favorites. By the same token, the Loretta Lynn episode is one of my faves even if i don't care for Loretta herself as much. In regards to Ricky himself, have you seen his sketch with Elmo from Sesame Street? That was one of the funniest bits from season 40!

My only concern really is what looks like an ever-growing list of celebrity cameos. Regardless of whether I like anyone on the list or not, most of the reports on the movie so far, have really been about which next celebrity will be appearing on the movie. And that's great for the attention and what-not but I don't want it to be mostly about that. There's a big group of Muppets too and I hope we get to see more of them and they get a good amount to do in the movie instead of it mostly being "Oh, look there's Billy Crystal! Oh look there's Jack Black! Oh look, there's Mickey Rooney! etc"

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Part of the reason most of the news we're hearing about the new movie is about the cameos is because casting news is one of the few types of "spoilers" that are regarded as okay to spoil. While the movie's shooting, people don't want to give away too much of what will be in it so actual news about various types of scenes aren't as plentiful but reports of who will be in the film are safer to reveal ahead of time.

I know there's been cameos in past movies but I'm starting to feel a vibe of "Who else can we get into this movie?" from reading all the reports, like that's all that matters about this movie

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It's not quantity but quality. Some Muppet projects have been shorter on cameos and others were chockful of 'em. Two such projects were TMM and VMX. VMX was a mixed bag - some cameos did indeed feel like they were too much (scrubs) or forced but others were quite natural/well done (The Batphone) TMM has a large number of cameos but they were all well done and added to rather than took away from the Muppety goodness. It doesn't even seem like there's as much as there are when you're watching, but when you see a list or look at the original theatrical poster that had all their faces at the top, it hits you how much there were and it's not so different than the current movie.

Keep in mind the definition/concept of "cameo": a small part done by a big name. "There are no small parts, just small actors" Any cameo could be done with an unknown actor. But when it's instead cast with a bigger name, not only is there a thrill of seeing them onscreen but they often add something extra to it. Some of the best examples are Richard Pryor in TMM and Whoopi Goldberg in LTS - those could have been done by any random dayplayer but to instead have Richard as the balloon salesman or Whoopi as the cab driver gave each scene that extra spark.

And these will be small parts - some one-liners, others more involved but i'm not as concerned with the effects of lots of cameos affecting The Muppets' screentime (they should ideally all be interacted with them after all) as much as i am the lead actors doing so. To me the cameos aren't an issue/threat but i do find myself concerned with how much of the film will end up focusing on Jason/Amy/Walter than The Muppets themselves. More and more J/A/W are appearing to be the actual protaganists of the film which just seems kind of wrong for a film called "The Muppets". I don't like the idea of a Muppet movie where the Muppets feel more like the guests than the actual stars (which were the main flaws with all the films where they told an existing story - MCC, MTI, and MWOO - what made these films the weaker ones weren't even so much that The Muppets were playing other characters but that the ratio of Muppets/humans were too light on the Muppets. Boom!'s Muppet Classics comics showed how you can actually do a extended story with The Muppets as actors playing parts that work well when The Muppets themselves are at the actual helm)

As it stands, my main concerns with the movie are:

(a) what i just talked about: that too much focus will be on Walter/Jason/Amy and not enough Muppets

(b) that the movie's getting SO much hype and buzz and getting so much expectations built up to the point that the final result may be hard to eventually measure up to the pedestal that's been built for it. That was largely what happened with Letters to Santa - we got all these news reports of how great the writers were and how they wanted to bring more of a late night sensibility to the Muppets and how Muppety it was going to be - and once we finally got to see it, it felt disappointing when it didn't quite match up to its prior buildup (and probably would have been more enjoyable if it was being watched without the lofty expectations)

It's not quantity but quality. Some Muppet projects have been shorter on cameos and others were chockful of 'em. Two such projects were TMM and VMX. VMX was a mixed bag - some cameos did indeed feel like they were too much (scrubs) or forced but others were quite natural/well done (The Batphone) TMM has a large number of cameos but they were all well done and added to rather than took away from the Muppety goodness. It doesn't even seem like there's as much as there are when you're watching, but when you see a list or look at the original theatrical poster that had all their faces at the top, it hits you how much there were and it's not so different than the current movie.

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The Scrubs cameo is prime example that NBC Universal likes to cross promote everything on everything else. NBC was the go-to network on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, ditto Get him to the Greek (The Today show being an important plot point, one of the characters watching Biggest Loser for some reason), even the NBC logo on the stolen Jumbotron in Despicable Me (not to mention some of the cast members being NBC show actors). Even LTS had someone from Law and Order and 30 Rock. So, yeah... there's that forcing. Though we'll clearly not get something like the Hulk Hogan bit in MFS that stopped the movie dead for 2 minutes.

(a) what i just talked about: that too much focus will be on Walter/Jason/Amy and not enough Muppets

(b) that the movie's getting SO much hype and buzz and getting so much expectations built up to the point that the final result may be hard to eventually measure up to the pedestal that's been built for it. That was largely what happened with Letters to Santa - we got all these news reports of how great the writers were and how they wanted to bring more of a late night sensibility to the Muppets and how Muppety it was going to be - and once we finally got to see it, it felt disappointing when it didn't quite match up to its prior buildup (and probably would have been more enjoyable if it was being watched without the lofty expectations)
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I thought the film did focus on Jason, Amy and "Walter"? I'm torn as I'd love for Kermit and the gang to be the main players, yet the whole premise of the film is quite meta-delicious to play with

At one time i may have agreed but while Joan used to be comic gold throughout a lot of her career, she's really become embarrassingly unfunny as she's aged - to the level where you just are left watching her and left shaking your head.

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I actually like that. Her humor now is so caustic and taboo shattering, I think she's gotten more funnier. I love dangerous cerebral humor, such as Patton Oswalt or the late Bill Hicks. Though even 60's Rivers had some really taboo stuff.

Here is another photo, taken at the same time of the table read photo, showing close up of Kermit,Jason and Miss Piggy.What is interesting about this photo is that Sweetums hasnt moved, so now I know that Sweetums too is a giant poseable photo puppet, and not someone in the costume as I had previously thought.

Who's the man puppeteering Miss Piggy? It's not Eric because he's puppeteering Fozzie Bear. I can make out Steve with Kermit, David with Scooter, Bill with Rowlf, Dave with Gonzo, and Peter with Walter. Excellent picture of our muppeteers in action.

Most my friends found the Scrubs cameo one of the highlights of the film. ( I don't watch the show)

A lot of the comments from children was that Scrubs weren’t in it long enough. Perhaps children are more familiar with TV celebrities than movie celebrities ?

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My problem with the Scrubs cameo is that the show just started up, it was clearly written as an ER references, but they wanted to promote their new show. In other words, the writers had no clue what the show was about, and the scene felt inorganic from both angles. Now, the Sesame Street episode of Scrubs, and them appearing in J.D.'s fantasies was nothing short of brilliant, especially the context it was in. Think about it. had Scrubs been out a while, they would have thrown in more subtle satire and inside Scrubs jokes instead of such a generic sequence like that.

That's Uncle Deadly alright! However, I wonder what's with that green toad-thing and the hip-hop Fozzie and Janice.

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AH! Confirmation. I had a feeling they would really put him in this film, and that wasn't just talk.

Hey, I've got a question? Has Eric officially taken over all of Frank Oz's characters one hundred percent? Or will Frank be dubbing his voice in? (Sorry if this has been covered already, I'm just super curious)

Hey, I've got a question? Has Eric officially taken over all of Frank Oz's characters one hundred percent? Or will Frank be dubbing his voice in? (Sorry if this has been covered already, I'm just super curious)

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Eric has taken over completely, yes. Since 2002 Eric has done every performance of Fozzie, Piggy, Animal, and Sam Eagle. Frank still comes back every once in awhile for a new Grover sketch on Sesame Street but he has completely retired from the classic Muppet characters... but it's okay, because Eric is awesome.